chrome os

Google is adding offline playback support for Google Play movies in Chrome OS, allowing Chromebook users without WiFi to still watch the films and TV shows they've bought. The update, which is expected to roll out in the coming weeks, further unties Chrome OS from its dependence on the cloud, one of the initial complaints that reduced the flexibility of Chromebooks for some users.

There’s an all-in-one with Google’s operating system Chrome OS headed for the United States this week - the LG Chromebase. Launched in secret to several retailers and reiterated at a special Intel-based event, LG’s first desktop computer running Chrome has arrived. This device has been released in Australia, of all places, earlier this year, and is just now ready for the USA.

Intel has embraced Chrome OS, outing the first batch of Celeron-branded Chromebooks from a clutch of manufacturers, as well as the first Core i3 Chromebooks. The launch - which includes Lenovo's new N20p and N20 Chromebooks - also includes a new Education Chromebook reference design aiming to bring more Chrome devices into classrooms.

Lenovo has revealed its first consumer Chromebooks, following on from its successful ThinkPad 11e and YOGA 11e for education, the N20 Chromebook and N20p Chromebook. Offering a choice of touch or non-touch 1366 x 768 displays, and up to eight hours of battery life, they're priced from $279. We caught up with Lenovo to take an early look ahead of their summer release.

This year Google will introduce a system tentatively called "Stars." This system will organize your media. It’s organized in its most basic terms into Images, Webpages, and Videos, and it’ll all be based on a tiny Star graphic in the right-hand side of your Chrome web browser’s address bar.

Google and Intel have scheduled a press conference next week, with the conversation revolving around Chrome OS. Taking place May 6, not much is known about what the conference will involve, but Intel is no stranger to Chromebooks. Via other manufacturers, Intel’s popular Haswell chipset is in many modern Chromebooks.

Is the PC dead? Not according to Acer, which brought a range of form-factors - from tiny tablets through to touchscreen all-in-ones - to New York City this morning, including a magnetically-docking Aspire Switch 10 2-in-1 and a potent Core i3 Chromebook. I caught up with Acer notebook chief Jerry Kao, to find out how the hybrid tablet is just the start of a new form-factor range for the company, as well as how Google dropped - and will reclaim - the ball in Chrome OS.

This week details are spilling on Acer’s next Chromebook device, the first working with an Intel Core inside. This device will be working with Intel Core i3 processor and is being suggested by Acer to be the "most powerful Chromebook on the market." Strangely it would appear that Acer isn’t about to let a whole lot more in the way of details be pushed other than this.

This week the system known as Google Stars - also known as Google Collections - has been revealed in enough detail that we’re able to move forward with some thoughts. Though not entirely public, Google has let loose a few details in code on what Google Stars might be, and how it might be integrated with several services in play already. Google addict Florian Kiersch has done the lion’s share of investigation into this system - we’ve had a chat with him this afternoon about his findings.

Microsoft has inked another deal to squeeze cash out of an Android and Chrome OS device manufacturer, adding Motorola Solutions to its roster of firms coughing up for patent licensing. Microsoft has made a healthy sideline in profiting from Android's success, signing up firms like Dell and ZTE even if the devices they're paying for aren't running Windows Phone or Windows.

Chromebooks are simple devices, and if a yet-unfinished feature that has surfaced ever comes to fruition, they could get even simpler. "Easy Unlock" is a feature that unlocks a user's Chromebook automatically when his or her smartphone is nearby.

While we’re not attempting to suggest that the Android version of Chrome Remote Desktop is perfect right off the bat, it is pretty excellent that we’re already able to launch Titanfall. This app is very similar to what we’ve seen with the Chrome version of the app, allowing you to connect your computers with an internet window. Here we’re allowed to control our computers from anywhere with a mobile device as well.